Pistons make Michael Gbinije a free agent

The Detroit Pistons have declined to fully guarantee Michael Gbinije’s $1.3 million salary, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The Detroit Pistons have declined to fully guarantee Michael Gbinije‘s salary for the coming season, making him an unrestricted free agent, per Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.

Gbinije was due $1.312 million for the 2017-18 season, but his contract was only partially guaranteed for $500,000. This means the Pistons will save $812,000 in salary on the books for this season, and they’ll save $1.544 million next season which will help counter a lower salary cap than expected when he was signed to his rookie deal last year.

This brings the Pistons’ roster down to 14 players, which is the number they need to get to when the season starts. They can also add two two-way contracts which essentially assigns a player to the G League (former the D-League) but allows them to stay with the NBA team up to 45 days at minimum salary pay. Gbinije would be eligible for one of those two-way contracts if the team chooses to sign him to such a deal.

Gbinije was the 49th overall draft pick in the 2016 NBA draft out of Syracuse. He only appeared in nine games last season, playing a total of 32 minutes. He scored four points and added three rebounds and two assists.

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He played the bulk of his season with the Grand Rapids Drive (again, now of the G League). He appeared in 16 games, averaging 35 minutes per appearance. He scored 12 points and averaged 4.3 rebounds per game, shooting 42 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from behind the three-point line.